Cassandra: eXtensions Video 3 - Basic Photo-editing on iPhones

By Graham K. Rogers

One of the best features of the iPhone is its camera and this improves with each new version of the device and with iOS. While there are a lot of apps available for improving the images we take, Apple's Photos is always a good place to start. Its editing controls allow either a simple approach or some more sophisticated changes.

I use a few cameras: a Nikon DSLR, an older Hasselblad - I still use film - and of course the iPhone. The twin lenses of the latest iPhone 7 Plus have allowed me to take some quite effective photographs including RAW images with some apps. But many of these still need editing.

Photographs on the iPhone are stored in the Photos app. To edit, we select an image and press the sliders icon at the bottom. I am using a photo I took last week that is a bit dull. Controls available are crop, filters, edit and More.

Edit gives me Light, Color and B & W. If we tap on the icon to the right on each, the section expands. If we tap on a panel, an image slider appears. We can use this to adjust the photo. Sometimes this is enough. The 3-line icon at right, expands the section and shows other options.

This image wants a little more exposure and a bit more brightness. I can try contrast, but that affects the look of clouds. This is still not enough. The grass needs to pop more. I can do that with saturation, but with all of these control options, I must be careful not to apply too much.

I like black and white for many of my photos. As I move the slider back and forth, this adjusts the amount of blue, red and green light. The B&W icon turns grey, and by tapping that I can instantly remove the monochrome effects: the icon also reverts to white on black.

I can press done or cancel. If I edit more, I also have the option to revert, which takes me back to the original image.

And then there is More. . .

The video. . . .

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life. He can be followed on Twitter (@extensions_th)